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The development and evaluation of the Australian child and adolescent recommended food score: a cross-sectional study
Nutrition Journal volume 11, Article number: 96 (2012)
Diet quality tools have been developed to assess the adequacy of dietary patterns for predicting future morbidity and mortality. This study describes the development and evaluation of a brief food-based diet quality index for use with children at the individual or population level. The Australian Child and Adolescent Recommended Food Score (ACARFS) was developed to reflect adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia and modelled on the approach of the US Recommended Food Score.
The ACARFS has eight sub-scales and is scored from zero to 73. The diet quality score was evaluated by assessing correlation (Spearman's correlations) and agreement (weighted κ statistics) between ACARFS scores and nutrient intakes, derived from a food frequency questionnaire in 691 children (mean age 11.0, SD 1.1) in New South Wales, Australia. Nutrient intakes for ACARFS quartiles were compared with the relevant Australian nutrient reference values.
ACARFS showed slight to substantial agreement (κ 0.13-0.64) with nutrient intakes, with statistically significant moderate to strong positive correlations with all vitamins, minerals and energy intake (r = 0.42-0.70). ACARFS was not related to BMI.Participants who scored less than the median ACARFS were more likely to have sub-optimal intakes of fibre, folic acid and calcium.
ACARFS demonstrated sufficient accuracy for use in future studies evaluating diet quality. Future research on its utility in targeting improvements in the nutritional quality of usual eating habits of children and adolescents is warranted.
Diet quality is a recent dietary concept that refers to both the nutritional adequacy of individual's dietary patterns, and how closely food patterns align with National Dietary Guidelines [1, 2]. It also captures the complexity of food and nutrient combinations and interactions, as well as concepts of undernutrition and overnutrition [1, 2]. The assessment of diet quality overcomes the limitations of linking intakes of single nutrients to health outcomes or disease risks [3]. Diet quality considers whole food and beverage intakes, which in turn are influenced by lifestyle behaviours, social determinants and the greater environment [1, 4–9]. Chronic disease risk factors, including elevated systolic blood pressure, obesity and hyperglycaemia have been shown to be associated with poor diet quality in adults [1, 10]. The validation of diet quality indices in relation to health outcomes in paediatric populations is difficult and controversial given the time lag in the development of chronic disease. However, paediatric diet quality indices have shown significant associations with, or have been validated using intermediate clinical markers for disease risk, including BMI [11, 12], waist circumference [11, 13], blood pressure [13, 14], micronutrient intakes [12, 15–18], and serum biomarkers such as iron, vitamin B12, and homocysteine [19, 20].
Diet quality can be quantified as a single continuous variable through calculation of a diet quality index or score. The relationship between diet quality indices and nutritional adequacy and/or morbidity and mortality in adults has been reviewed [10] highlighting that across the 25 indices identified they are able to quantify risk for some health outcomes, including biomarkers of disease, incidence and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), some cancers and other chronic conditions and both cancer mortality and all-cause mortality [10].
However, these diet quality indices may be inappropriate for use in children due to age related differences in lifestyle, social influences, dietary intakes and dietary requirements [3]. To date no reviews of paediatric diet quality indices have been published, and only one diet quality index appropriate for the Australian context, the Dietary Guideline Index for Children and Adolescents (DGI-CA) [21] was found. The DGI-CA has 11 food based components and is derived from a 24 h recall implemented by trained interviewers [21]. The derivation of the final score requires nutrient analysis to calculate serves of food groups based on energy intake. The DGI-CA was found to be negatively associated with energy intake and although positive associations were found with BMI and waist-circumference z-scores in some age groups, they were considered weak with authors concluding that the DGI-CA was appropriate for use at the population level only [21].
Diet quality indices have been derived by applying a scoring system to dietary intakes assessed by food frequency questionnaires (FFQ), food records or 24 h recalls, with indices constructed by assigning higher scores within sub-scales based on higher intakes of foods, nutrients, or both [1]. Food based scores have some advantages over nutrient based scores as they rely on food and beverage consumption data only and thus can be scored quickly. For nutrient based scores, the dietary intakes must first be analysed to determine nutrient intakes before the overall score can be calculated. This suggests that food based scores may be more easily adapted for clinical and education purposes [1, 22]. A food based diet diversity or variety score or diet quality index considers the number of foods or food groups consumed in a given period and reflects the relationship between dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy [1, 2].
Therefore the aims of this study were to develop a paediatric diet quality index, the Australian Child and Adolescent Recommended Food Score (ACARFS) and to evaluate agreement with nutrient intakes from a previously validated FFQ as a measure of diet quality in children.
Study design and participants
The data in this study are from a cross-sectional survey of dietary intake, with anthropometric measurements collected from 720 primary school aged children (nine-12 yrs) from 29 randomly selected government schools in the Hunter Region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia in 2005 [23].
Body weight measurements were taken in light clothing without shoes using A&D Personal Precision Scale, UC 321, Accurate to 50 g (A&D Engineering, Inc. San Jose, California). Height was measured without shoes using a Harpenden Portable Stadiometer (98.603) classified as Class 1 under EC directive 93/42/EWG (Holtain Ltd. Crosswell, Crymych, UK-developed in collaboration with the Institute of Child Health at the University of London). Two measurements were taken for weight and height and the average calculated. A third measurement was taken for height and weight when the difference between the first two measurements was more than 0.5 centimetres or 0.5 kilograms, respectively, with the closest two measurements used to calculate the average. Average height and weight measures were used to calculate BMI using the formula: BMI = weight (kg)/[height (m)]2. Anthropometric data was transformed into BMI z-scores using the LMS method [24, 25] based on reference data from the 1990 British Growth Reference [26].Weight status was classified as healthy weight, overweight or obese using the UK age and gender-specific BMI z-score cut-off points identified by Cole et al. [27] corresponding to a BMI of 25 for overweight and 30 for obese at 18 years of age.
Assessment of dietary intake
Dietary intake was measured using the Australian Child and Adolescent Eating Survey (ACAES), a 135-item semi-quantitative FFQ with 120 food items and 15 supplementary questions addressing age, food behaviours and hours spent in sedentary behaviour. ACAES had been previously evaluated for reliability and relative validity and demonstrated acceptable accuracy for ranking nutrient intakes in Australian youth aged nine to 16 years [28–30]. Portion sizes for individual food items were accessed from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) [31] and unpublished data from the 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey or the "natural" serving size for common items such as a slice of bread. Subjects were asked about frequency of their consumption over the previous 6 months. The frequency options ranged from 'never' to '4 or more times per day' but up to '7 or more glasses per day' for drinks. Of these frequency response questions, 24 related directly to intake of vegetables or legumes and 11 to fruit with seasonal availability of some fruits considered in the nutrient analysis, nine questions related to breads and cereals, nine to dairy foods, 32 to main meal or lunch items, nine to beverages, 20 to snack foods/dessert and six to sandwich spreads/dressing/ sauce. Nutrient intakes from the FFQ were computed from the most current food composition database of Australian foods available, the Australian AusNut 1999 database (All Foods) Revision 17 primarily and AusFoods (Brands) Revision five (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra) [32] to generate individual mean daily macro-and micronutrient intakes. The estimated daily intake for twenty macro- and micronutrients was calculated using FoodWorks (version 3.02.581 Xyris Software Australia, Highgate Hill, Queensland). In the current analysis FFQs that had greater than five unanswered items were excluded. For all FFQs included missing responses considered to be items that were never consumed.
This study was approved by the University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number H-949-0205) and the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and Training. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants' parents/guardians and participants gave informed assent prior to inclusion in the study.
The Australian child and adolescent recommended food score
The ACARFS was designed as a brief, culture specific, food based diet quality tool for children and adolescents. It focused on dietary variety within recommended food groups for use in populations and individuals and took 10 to 15 minutes to complete. It was modelled on the Recommended Food Score [33] and the Australian Recommended Food Score (ARFS) [34] which evaluated adherence to National Dietary Guidelines for Adults. The ACARFS utilises a subsample of questions in the ACAES FFQ [28] which are consistent with the eating patterns recommended in the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents [35]. The ACARFS has eight food group components, seventy questions and a score ranging from zero to 73 (Table 1) with 20 questions related directly to vegetable intake, 12 to fruit, 13 to protein foods (seven to meat and six to non-meat protein foods), 12 to breads/cereals, 10 to dairy foods, one to water and two to spreads/sauce. The scoring for each food group component is detailed in Table 1.The maximum possible score for each component was determined by the number of suitable ACAES FFQ items in each food group with scoring based on how frequently the included items were consumed. Most foods were awarded one point for a reported consumption of ≥ once per week, but differed for some items depending on national dietary guideline recommendations [35] with consideration of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating [36]. Some food items had a limit placed on their score for higher intakes due to higher intakes being associated with potentially higher saturated fat or disease risk and these capped items received only one point for the following; minced meat consumed > never to < once per month; beef and/or lamb, chicken without crumbing or batter or pork consumed one to four times per week; flavoured milk, ice-cream or frozen yoghurt consumed ≥ once per week to ≤ once per day; cheese, cheese spread or cream cheese consumed ≥ once per week but < four per day; and water if consumed ≥ four glasses per day. A scoring cap was applied to meats as only 0.5 to 1 serve of meat (including fish and poultry) is recommended per day in national guidelines for children and adolescents [35, 36]. Some dairy foods including flavoured milk, ice-cream, frozen yoghurt and cheese were capped due to their high saturated fat and/or sugar content [35, 37]. Additional points were awarded (Table 1) for consuming evening meals with vegetables ≥ three times per week, ≥ one pieces of fruit per day, ≥ two serves of milk, yoghurt or cheese per day, and for using reduced fat milk and wholegrain or wholemeal bread. The type of fat spreads was not asked as children are unlikely to know this. Yeast extract spread and tomato ketchup were included in the score as they contain a significant amount of B-group vitamins or β-carotene respectively [37].
Confounding factors
Health-related variables potentially associated with food intake and adjusted for in the multiple regression were gender, hours spent in sedentary behaviour, BMI z-score [38] and age. Meeting sedentary behaviour recommendations (<0–1 h spent watching television and <0–1 h spent at the computer or playing video games), height, weight, BMI category, gender, school year, and Socio-economic status (SES) were also described. SES was assessed using the Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) [39] at the level of the school, based on school Postcode, but was not included in the regression as it was not available at the individual level.
Statistical analysis
Health-related variables were described for the whole group and by school year. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to test for significant associations with the potential confounders: age, BMI z-scores and hours spent in sedentary activity. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the ACARFS for each school year and by gender and also to describe the contribution of each of the core food component scores to the total ACARFS. Normality of data was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test, the χ2 test was used for testing association between categorical variables, the Two Sample t-tests (two-tailed) for parametric continuous variables, and the Wilcoxon test (two-tailed) for non-parametric continuous variables.
The weighted kappa (κ) statistic, a quantitative measure of agreement where chance is accounted for, was used to assess agreement between ACARFS quartiles with quartile distributions of the average daily intake of 13 nutrients: percent energy from saturated fatty acids (SFA), fibre, vitamin C, vitamin A, β-carotene, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. Quartile four represented the highest ACARFS score or highest intake of each nutrient except for percent energy from (saturated fatty acid) SFA in which quartile four represented the lowest intake. The macronutrients of total fat, mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), protein and carbohydrate were not assessed using the weighted κ statistic as there is no definite recommendation for increasing or decreasing their intake, for example the recommended fat intake is 30% whereas SFA intake is less than 10% [40]. The weighted κ statistic was chosen to compare ACARFS scores with nutrient intakes as it summarizes the agreement in categories of ranked ACARFS scores in reference to each nutrient assessed from the FFQ. This provided information to assess the usefulness of the ACARFS in individuals as well as populations. In addition, the non-weighted κ statistic was calculated for each ACARFS quartile and its corresponding quartile of nutrient intake to further investigate their agreement. Kappa values of 1.0 represent perfect agreement, 0.0 represents no more agreement than would occur due to chance and negative values suggest there is less agreement than would occur due to chance alone [41]. Arbitrary benchmarks for κ statistics have been set as 0.01 – 0.20 'slight' agreement, 0.21 – 0.40 'fair', 0.41–0.60 'moderate', 0.61–0.80 'substantial' and 0.81–0.99 'almost perfect' agreement [42].
However, the κ statistic may be an overly conservative assessment of agreement as the degree of chance is thought to be overestimated [43]. To further explore the relationship between the ACARFS and nutrient intakes determined from the ACAES FFQ, Spearman's correlation coefficients (as the nutrient intakes were skewed to the left) were calculated for the 13 nutrients listed previously as well as energy and percentage of energy from protein, carbohydrate, fat, SFA, MUFAs, PUFAs and sugar. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate nutrient intakes by ACARFS quartile and in comparison to the Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) of Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs) or Adequate Intakes (AI, used when the RDI cannot be determined), where appropriate, for children aged nine to 13 years [40]. The RDI was chosen as the benchmark for comparison as it is the average daily intake level sufficient to meet the needs of 97 to 98% of the population, a more ambitious target than the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) which is the level required to meet the needs of only 50% [40]. The RDI was used to indicate the ACARFSs association with nutrient intakes.
For the analysis, a p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Statistical analysis was undertaken using STATA version 8, StataCorp LP, College Station, Texas (2003) except for the unweighted kappa statistics which were evaluated using JMP v 8, SAS Institute Inc, Cary, North Carolina (2009) as this function was unavailable in STATA version 8.
Study participants
The demographic characteristics of participants (n 720) are reported in Table 2. Boys had lower mean BMI z-score compared to girls (0.57 ± 1.16 versus 0.75 ± 1.18, P = 0.040). Twenty-nine (four percent) of participants were found to have five or more unanswered ACAES FFQ items and were therefore excluded. These excluded participants (n 29) were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from the remaining participants (n 691) in any of the variables considered in Table 2.
Australian child and adolescent recommended food score
The ACARFS was calculated for 691 children and was slightly skewed to the left. Table 3 reports the ACARFS descriptive statistics overall, by gender and school year. From a possible maximum score of 73, the median ACARFS score was 25 with a maximum of 58 and a minimum of three. Females and older primary school students (mean age ≈ 12 years) had a significantly higher mean ACARFS than males and younger children (mean age ≈ 10 years) respectively (P < 0.001, P = 0.005). Table 4 reports the contribution of each ACARFS component to the overall score.
Confounding factors
The correlation between BMI z-score and the ACARFS was not significant (r = 0.02, P = 0.610). Multiple linear regression showed that together gender, BMI z-score, age and hours/day spent in sedentary pursuits explained a small amount of the variation in the ACARFS (R2 = 0.04, P < 0.001). Individual regression coefficients were gender = 0.1, BMI z-score = 0.03, age = 0.10 and sedentary behaviour = 0.12. Twenty-six percent of the participants met the recommendations for minimizing sedentary behaviour with girls more likely than boys (P < 0.001) but the difference by school year was not significant (P > 0.05). Thirty-four percent of children reported that they spent ≥ 4 h/d in sedentary activity, and five percent reported ≥ 8 h/d. The SEIFA codes for all schools were below the NSW average for the Socio-Economic Index for Areas of disadvantage [28, 39].
Assessment of agreement
The ACARFS quartiles were assessed for agreement with quartiles of nutrient intakes (Table 5). The percentage of ACARFS scores and nutrient intakes classified into the same quartile, the percentage classified in the same or adjacent quartile, and the percentage grossly misclassified (i.e. those classified as quartile four for ACARFS but classified as quartile one for nutrients and vice-versa) were calculated. The κ statistic for each quartile was calculated as was the overall weighted κ statistic, standard error and p-value. The percent energy intake from SFA gave the least overall agreement of all the nutrients (κ = 0.13) and demonstrated 'slight' agreement, followed by riboflavin (κ = 0.36) which showed 'fair' agreement. Vitamin C (κ = 0.64), fibre (κ = 0.62) and β-carotene (κ = 0.62) had the strongest 'substantial' agreement. All other nutrients showed 'moderate' agreement (κ = 0.42 – 0.56). Within quartiles, fibre, vitamin C and β-carotene had the lowest percentages grossly misclassified. With the exception of SFA, all other nutrients had less than five percent grossly misclassified. The strongest agreement amongst the quartiles was quartile one, where nine of the nutrients showed 'moderate' agreement. Quartile four showed the next strongest agreement with agreement in quartiles two and three rated as very slight.
ACARFS demonstrated statistically significant positive correlations with all vitamins and minerals tested (Table 5). The strongest correlations were with vitamin C (r = 0.70, P < 0.001), β-carotene (r = 0.67, P < 0.001) and fibre (r = 0.67, P < 0.001). ACARFS also had a moderately strong positive correlation with total energy (r = 0.51, P < 0.001). When the ACARFS was correlated with macronutrients adjusted for energy intake there was a weak positive correlation with protein (r = 0.18, P < 0.001) and weak negative correlation with total fat (r = −0.12, P = 0.003) and SFA (r = −0.15, P < 0.001). Associations between the ACARFS and percent energy intake from MUFA, PUFA, carbohydrate and sugar intake were not significant.
Nutrient reference values
Table 6 describes the NRVs appropriate for individual children aged nine to 12 for the nutrients considered in the analysis, and the median and IQR of nutrient intakes as calculated by the ACAES FFQ for each of the ACARFS quartiles. In both quartile three and quartile four (highest ACARFS score) all of the median nutrient intakes met the corresponding NRV. In both quartile one (lowest ACARFS quartile) and quartile two the median nutrient intakes of the population sample for fibre, folate and calcium did not meet the corresponding NRV. Table 6 also shows the proportion of the sample population not meeting the corresponding NRV. This was the greatest for fibre (45%), folate (45%) and calcium (40% <1000 mg, 62% <1300 mg) and the lowest for niacin equivalents (1%) and riboflavin (0.3%).
National Dietary Guidelines for children and adolescents recommend that children enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods [35]. The ACARFS was designed to capture eating habits and food behaviours recommended within these guidelines. Therefore, like the adult Recommended Food Score [33, 34] it only considers intake of foods that align with dietary guidelines. Although the median score was not high at 25, the ACARFS correlated with nutrient intakes in the direction expected and applying Kappa statistics to quartiles of score, generally agreed with estimated nutrient intakes assessed from the ACAES FFQ. Importantly, children with higher ACARFS scores were more likely to meet the NRVs. The ACARFS therefore implies one or both of the following; firstly that a child who scores well on the ACARFS consumes a wide variety of healthy foods and has an adequate nutrient intake, or secondly that a child who scores well on the ACARFS consumes a wide variety of healthy and unhealthy foods, but still has an adequate nutrient intake. It is important to note that the dietary guidelines are not disease specific. Therefore adherence to the guidelines may have a varied effect on chronic disease risk and no assumptions can be made about higher ACARFS scores and decreased risk of chronic diseases without research to specifically evaluate this.
Strategies to enhance diet quality should potentially focus on promotion of a greater variety of sources of lean protein food, high fibre and wholegrains, vegetables and reduced fat dairy foods. Our results indicate that the majority of individuals were categorised within one quartile for both the ACARFS and the majority of nutrients evaluated, and rated as having moderate to substantial agreement. This is encouraging in terms of using a diet quality tool to potentially evaluate the impact of a broad public health campaign aimed at promoting adherence to national dietary guidelines or improving overall diet quality.
When applied to the quartiles of ACARFS and nutrient intakes, the weighted κ statistics showed slight to substantial agreement overall, though most nutrients showed moderate agreement [42]. This indicates that the ACARFS is moderately strong in correctly classifying an individual or populations as having either good diet quality or poor diet quality. However the ability to correctly classify those in middle quartiles is slight. This could be partly explained by the non-normal data with skews to lower values for the ACARFS and nutrient intakes. Furthermore, the ACARFS correctly classified a third to almost half of individuals into the same quartile for nutrient intakes, with the exception of percent energy from SFA. The strongest agreement between ACARFS and nutrient intake was for vitamin C, fibre, β-carotene and magnesium, where the majority of individuals were classified into the same or adjacent quartile. The poorest agreement was for percent energy from SFA where the weighted κ statistic was slight but two thirds of individuals were classified into the same or adjacent quartile. For SFA the correlation with ACARFS produced a similar result with a slightly negative and statistically significant correlation with percent energy from SFA. The modest results regarding SFA may be due to the dairy and/or meat/flesh components of the ACARFS as many of these foods may contain large amounts of SFA, such as cheese or red meats [37]. While correlation with all of the vitamins and minerals was moderately strong and statistically significant, correlation with fibre, vitamin C, β-carotene and magnesium were strongest. The ACARFS was also positively correlated with energy intake, a common finding in variety indices such as the ACARFS or dietary diversity scores, as the more food consumed the more variety in the diet and the higher the nutrient intakes [44–46]. Although this relationship with energy exists and diet quality and variety scores have been known to be positively associated with BMI [21, 47], the ACARFS was not correlated with BMI, and BMI z-scores had minimal influence on variation in the ACARFS.
Although participants, with the lowest ACARFS scores, indicating the poorest diet quality had the lowest nutrient intakes of the sample population, they still met most of the RDIs and AIs. However, the NRVs for fibre, folate and calcium were not met by about half of the participants in quartile one or two. This indicates that the ACARFS is sensitive enough to identify participants not eating a sufficient variety of nutrient rich foods. Even those participants not eating a wide variety of nutritious foods are unlikely to be deficient in the other vitamins and minerals considered as these nutrients are plentiful in the Australian food supply [37, 40]. It is important to note that the ACARFS is determined by the number of foods from each food group usually consumed at least weekly. This means that although an individual may consume the recommended servings of each food group, such as one fruit and three vegetables each day [36], which would provide a sufficient intake of most nutrients, consumption of a wide variety from each food group every week is required to gain a high score.
The sample population were aged nine to 12 years only and had a lower SES than the NSW average which may reduce how generalisable it is to other populations. While parents can fill in the ACARFS on behalf of their child, this may introduce bias as parents have been reported to overestimate child diet quality [48]. The relative contribution of each component to the final score was dependent on the questions in the ACAES FFQ and is not necessarily representative of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating [36]. However, this may be viewed as a strength and a more realistic representation of the food group proportions available in the food supply. As the dietary guidelines for children in Australia do not provide specific recommendations for amounts to be consumed within food groups, the scoring contains an additional degree of subjectivity. This potentially means the ACARFS could overestimate usual diet quality. Further, given that biomarkers to objectively verify components of dietary intake were not measured, the results should be interpreted with caution.
In the ACAES validation study the FFQ demonstrated higher nutrient intakes compared to food records [28]which may explain why the median intakes of niacin, vitamin A and magnesium were above the corresponding upper limit. However, the ACAES FFQ validation study demonstrated the ability of the ACAES FFQ to correctly classify participants into quintiles of nutrient intake and therefore not affect the assessment of agreement and correlations [28]. This also suggests that participants in the first and second ACARFS quartiles may be at risk of inadequate intakes of nutrients other than fibre, folate and calcium.
Implications for research and practice
As the ACARFS is derived from a validated FFQ for children it offers the opportunity for researchers to use it independently or to derive it secondarily from the FFQ as a measure of overall dietary quality as a single continuous variable. The calculation of the ACARFS from the full ACAES FFQ is less onerous than indices that include nutrient based sub-scales. Its use as a brief tool to assess diet quality using only the FFQ questions and relevant responses could extend its use by allowing the ACARFS to be used along with the provision of timely feedback.
To extend its usability further research should examine use of the ACARFS method applied to other FFQs, in other populations, age groups, as well as other settings such as a self-monitoring tool or within clinical practice. In order for the ACARFS to be of use clinically or for self-assessment, then cut points may need to be derived. However, the agreement between quartiles suggests that those with an ACARFS score of 32 and above have a good diet quality and consume a reasonably wide variety of nutritious foods and that they have the highest nutrient intakes. Those with an ACARFS score of 19 to 31 (quartiles two and three) have a moderate diet quality, and consume a moderate variety of nutritious foods, but are at risk of sub-optimal intakes of fibre, folate and calcium. Finally, those with an ACARFS score of 18 or less have a poorer diet quality, do not consume a wide variety of nutritious foods and have the lowest intakes of a range of nutrients.
The ACARFS is a brief assessment tool to measure the diet quality, food variety and nutritional adequacy of dietary intakes of Australian youth. Based on the correlation analyses and weighted κ statistics to assess agreement with ranked nutrient intakes presented for this sample of children the ACARFS may be a useful tool in evaluating the diet quality of individuals and populations. Future research is needed to identify whether the ACARFS can be used effectively to target improvements in diet quality within community and within clinical interventions aimed at optimising the dietary intakes of children and adolescents.
Australian bureau of statistics
Australian child and adolescent eating survey
Australian child and adolescent recommended food score
Adequate intakes
Australian recommended food score
Body mass index
Cardiovascular disease
Dietary guideline index for children and adolescents
Estimated average requirement
Food frequency questionnaire
Mono-unsaturated fatty acids
Nutrient reference values
New South Wales
Poly-unsaturated fatty acids
Recommended dietary intakes
Socio-economic index for areas
Socio-economic status
Saturated fatty acids.
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Watson JF, Collins CE, Sibbritt DW, Dibley MJ, Garg ML: Reproducibility and comparative validity of a food frequency questionnaire for Australian children and adolescents. Int J Behav Nutr Phy. 2009, 6: 1-17.
Burrows T, Collins CE, Garg ML: A comparative validation of a child food frequency questionnaire using red blood cell membrane fatty acids. Eur J Clinl Nutr.
Burrows T, Warren JM, Colyvas K, Garg ML, Collins CE: Validation of a parental report of overweight children's fruit and vegetable intake using plasma carotenoids. Obes. 2009, 17: 16-168.
National nutrition survey: Nutrient intakes and physical measurements. 1998, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian New Zealand Food Authority: AUSNUT Australian food and nutrient database 1999 for estimation of dietary intake. 1999, Canberra: Australian New Zealand Food Authority
Kant A, Schatzkin A, Graubard B, Schairer C: A prospective study of diet quality and mortality in women. J Am Med Assoc. 2000, 283: 2109-2115.
Collins CE, Young AF, Hodge A: Diet quality is associated with higher nutrient intake and self-rated health in mid-aged women. J Am Coll Nutr. 2008, 27: 146-157.
National Health and Medical Research Council: Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia incorporating the Infant Feeding Guidelines for Health Workers. 2003, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia
Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services: The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. 1998, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia
Food Standards Australia New Zealand: NUTTAB 2006 Australian food composition tables. 2006, Canberra: Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Pan H, Cole T: LMS Growth [a Microsoft Excel add-in to access growth references based on the LMS method], Version 2.2. 2007, Cambridge: Medical Research Council
Trewin D, Australian Bureau of Statistics: Information paper: Census of population and housing socio-economic indexes for areas 2039.0. 2001, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Commonwealth of Australia
Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand Including Recommended Dietary Intakes. 2005, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service
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Hatloy A, Torheim LE, Oshaug A: Food variety — a good indicator of nutritional adequacy of the diet? A case study from an urban area in Mali. West Africa. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1998, 52: 891-898.
Arimond M, Ruel MT: Dietary diversity is associated with child nutritional status: evidence from 11 demographic and health surveys. J Nutr. 2004, 134: 2579-2585.
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Competing interests
The authors declare that there are no competing interests. This study was conducted at the University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, AUSTRALIA and received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. CECis supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development research fellowship.
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All authors contributed to the research design and interpretation of results, SM conducted the primary analysis with assistance from JW. SM created the first manuscript draft and all authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version. The contribution of SM was conducted as part requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours).
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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Marshall, S., Watson, J., Burrows, T. et al. The development and evaluation of the Australian child and adolescent recommended food score: a cross-sectional study. Nutr J 11, 96 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-11-96
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-11-96


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- PayPal: Cuoieriashop accepts payments from PayPal Accounts and reserves the right to process orders only if they are shipped to the same address that the verified PayPal account is registered with.
- Credit Card: When Clients place orders online, Credit Card details are entered into a protected online banking system provided by Stripe.
- Bank Transfer: When Bank Wire Transfer is selected as method of payment, the Client will automatically receive an email containing the bank account information for CUOIERIASHOP.COM. The merchandise will then be reserved for the order until payment has been confirmed. The merchandise will be shipped once CUOIERIASHOP has confirmed the payment and the merchandise is available for shipment. This method of payment is not available in all countries. Please check availability at the time of purchase.
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Standard Delivery: 8.00€ (Fedex / DPD) 5/7 Business Days,
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Return and Refund:
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Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics James Sherk writes: "The Obama Administration recently rolled back union financial transparency reforms. New regulations will exempt many union trust funds, such as strike funds and apprenticeship programs, from financial disclosure laws. These regulations also end financial reporting for many government unions."
According to recent polling, 66 percent of union members believe their leaders mostly look out for themselves and a full 89 percent of them believe unions should disclose their spending. Sherk notes that Members of UFCW Local 7 in Colorado recently voted out their President after they learned he gave his children six-figure jobs on the union payroll.
But there is something the next Congress can do. Sherk recommends:
Congress already has the tools to prevent these reforms from being rolled back: The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn newly issued federal regulations. Congress has only until early April to invoke this authority. Congress should force the President to publicly choose between union members and self-interested union leaders. Rank-and-file union members deserve to know where the President stands.


text: Matt Lawrence wrote: > On Wed, 9 Jul 2008, Prentice Bisbal wrote: > >> Douglas Eadline wrote: >>> A blast from the past. I have a copy of the Yggdrasil "Linux Bible". >>> A phone book of Linux How-To's and other docs from around 1995. >>> Quite useful before Google became the help desk. >>> >>> -- >>> Doug >>> >> >> Translation: Doug is a pack rat. > > No, he is merely satisfying his genetic tendancy toward archivism. I have windows 3.1 in it's original packaging...sealed! (The guy that gave it to me asked if it could be of any use...I smirked and told him "no way, you can do all sorts of things with this!"...an went on reading the boxe's cool features... > > -- Matt > It's not what I know that counts. > It's what I can remember in time to use. > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf


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Jewish World Review July 31, 2003/ 2 Menachem-Av, 5763
Ann Coulter Closure on nuancehttp://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Another tape-recorded message from Saddam Hussein surfaced this week, making it the third audiotape he has released in the past month. If we're really serious about finding this guy, maybe we should start searching Iraq's recording studios. On the tape, Hussein acknowledged the death of his sons Odai and Qusai Hussein and called their deaths "good news" -- which is more than the Democrats have said. He thanked God for his sons' "martyrdom." Indeed, Hussein said that even if he had 100 other children, he "would offer them the same path." Apparently the alluring path of martyrdom is not one Saddam is choosing for himself. Hussein praised his sons for putting up a brave fight, noting that U.S. forces had surrounded their compound with advanced weaponry, ground troops and warplanes. In case that didn't work, U.S. forces were prepared to tell Janet Reno that a small Cuban boy was inside the house. In other terror news, the government issued a warning to the airlines this week about terrorist attacks on commercial aircraft being planned before the end of the summer. Al-Qaida has apparently sized up the new security measures put into place by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and has discovered some areas of vulnerability. Among the weaknesses the terrorists hope to exploit is the fact that airlines are prohibited from looking for Arab terrorists. The memo sent out by the Department of Homeland Security says groups of as few as five terrorists might try to seize planes for suicide missions soon after takeoff or right before landing. As the warning explains: "The hijackers may try to calm passengers and make them believe they were on a hostage, not suicide, mission." Norman Mineta sent out an emergency follow-up memo warning airlines not to make assumptions about whether hijackers really want to fly to Cuba based solely on their Arab appearance. The Bush administration's warning to the airlines apparently stems from the psychological makeup of conservatives. The conservative psyche was recently plumbed by some top researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University and the University of Maryland at College Park. (Profiling conservatives is OK, just not Arab terrorists.) According to the study, "terror management" is among "the common psychological factors linked to political conservatism." This feature, we learn, "can be seen in post-Sept. 11 America, where many people appear to shun and even punish outsiders and those who threaten the status of cherished worldviews." Liberals, by contrast, think outside the box. For example, the left's "cherished worldview" prohibits racial profiling. But after 9/11, liberals approached the issue with an open mind. In recognition of the fact that 19 Arab immigrants with the identical hair color, eye color and skin color, half of whom were named Mohammed, had just murdered thousands of our fellow countrymen, liberals decided to keep prohibiting racial profiling. Meanwhile, conservatives, with their simple-minded lack of nuance, tried to "turn back the clock" to a time when angry barbarians did not fly planes into our skyscrapers. They shunned -- and even punished -- outsiders who threatened their cherished worldview of a country free of savage terrorist attacks. The report described "liberal" traits as including a powerful "need for closure." (I believe conservatives just want closure on the word "closure.") But in the press release, one of the researchers, Jack Glaser, said the study suggested that Bush had "ignored intelligence information" about Iraq because of the conservative "need for closure." So I guess another liberal trait is "making no sense." The study also explained that "conservatives don't feel the need to jump through complex, intellectual hoops in order to understand or justify some of their positions ..." Whenever you have backed a liberal into a corner -- if he doesn't start crying -- he says, "It's a complicated issue." Loving America is too simple an emotion. To be nuanced you have to hate it a little. Conservatives may not grasp "nuance," but we're pretty good at grasping treason. As proof of the conservative lack of nuance, Glaser cited Bush's statement, "I know what I believe and I believe what I believe is right." Not only that, but Bush once told a reporter: "Look, my job isn't to nuance."
Odai Hussein didn't need a phony study to comprehend Bush's lack of "nuance." The London Sunday Telegraph recently reported that, soon after the war began, Odai was deeply depressed. According to the former director of Iraqi television quoted in the Telegraph, the last words he heard Odai speak were these: "This time I think the Americans are serious. Bush is not like Clinton. I think this is the end."
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Ann Coulter is the author of, most recently, "Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism." (Sales help fund JWR.)


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Alternate headline: "Obama administration decides against picking pointless, hugely politically perilous fight in election year."
"The decision to withdraw this rule — including provisions to define the 'parental exemption' — was made in response to thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms," the Department said in a press release Thursday evening. "To be clear, this regulation will not be pursued for the duration of the Obama administration." [Translation: "Please, please let's forget about this." — ed.]
The rule would have dramatically changed what types of chores children under the age of 16 could perform on and around American farms. It would have prohibited them from working with tobacco, operating almost all types of power-driven equipment and being employed to work with raw farm materials.
"Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions," read a press release from last August…
Parents and children who grew up on farms across the country told TheDC that the rule was overprotective and would have prevented kids from learning valuable skills at early ages.
We didn't blog this yesterday but I think part of the reason the original story broke big online was that some readers thought the regs would have barred kids from working on their own parents' farm. Not so. See Doug Mataconis's piece at Outside the Beltway clarifying that point. In fact, if you read down into Wednesday's DC piece, it notes right there that there's a parental exemption to the regulations. The concern was (a) that kids would be barred from doing "hazardous" chores for extended family like uncles and grandparents and (b) that the exemption might only apply to farms that are wholly owned by a child's parents and not farms in which they own merely a share. Not sure that fear was well founded, though:
"It's good the Labor Department rethought the ridiculous regulations it was going to stick on farmers and their families," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. "To even propose such regulations defies common sense, and shows a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works."
The surprise move comes just two months after the Labor Department modified the rule in a bid to satisfy opponents. The agency made it clear it would exempt children who worked on farms owned or operated by their parents, even if the ownership was part of a complex partnership or corporate agreement…
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., a grain farmer known to till his fields on weekends away from Washington, had come out strongly against the proposed rule. The Democrat continued to criticize the Obama administration rule even after it was tempered earlier this year, saying the Labor Department "clearly didn't get the whole message" from Montana's farmers and ranchers.
What if several generations of a family own a farm together but don't have the right type of ownership agreement? Who knows? Don't sweat the details, though. The takeaway from this story is that someone in the Labor Department actually thought the White House would let them construct a "big liberal government clamping down on family farms in the heartland" narrative for the GOP six months out from a presidential election. I'm actually surprised it took them a whole day to back down. Presumably Axelrod had to wait to call Hilda Solis because he was literally rendered speechless.
Coming soon from the Labor Department, presumably: Exciting new regulations on mom and apple pie.


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Man killed in shark attack while surfing off western Australia
By Tanalee Smith, APTuesday, August 17, 2010
Man killed by shark while surfing in Australia
ADELAIDE, Australia — An Australian man died Tuesday after being attacked by a shark while surfing off the southwestern coast, police said.
The 31-year-old was attacked while surfing alone early in the morning at a beach near Gracetown, about 175 miles (280 kilometers) south of the Western Australia state capital of Perth.
A police spokeswoman told The Associated Press that the man received life-threatening injuries and died later at Margaret River Hospital. She spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
The spokeswoman said the man was from nearby Busselton. Police said his identity may be released later Tuesday.
Phil Shaw, regional manager of the state Department of Fisheries, said officers would try to determine if the shark was still in the area, what species it was and whether it posed a risk.
Great white sharks are common off that part of the coast.
In 2004, another local surfer died after a shark attack at a Gracetown beach.


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6 Tech gadgets every senior needs
While you might not think about the latest tech trends converging with senior must-haves, the truth is often technology can immensely help seniors age in place. With gadgets, seniors can have more independence for longer, while at the same time keeping loved ones connected and comforted.
Not only does technology help us stay connected with our families, but it can also keep seniors safe and more comfortable. And while many people may think seniors have a harder time keeping up with technology, there are many gadgets that aren't complicated – or even expensive. As an added bonus, if your mom or dad is using the internet, they have less of a chance of depression.
So what are the best gadgets for seniors? Read on to learn more!
Nobody really enjoys the thought of spying, but this medical alert watch can make sure your loved one stays safe while maintaining their independence. The Lively 24/7 Emergency Medical Alert System includes a watch and in-home hub and activity sensors that monitor the health and wellness of seniors in the comfort of their own home. It allows caregivers to check in and make sure medication is taken on time and food is eaten, or any other custom daily routines are being kept.
The sensors attach to movable objects and run in the background. There are no video cameras used. The watch can alert seniors if they've missed an activity, like failing to take medication, shows seniors how many steps they've taken and a coming feature will auto detect falls.
Using an online dashboard, you can see if the watch is being worn and how active your loved one has been. You can also check activity sensors and view any notifications. The Lively system also makes it easy to keep up with seniors by using an app for your smartphone. You can also invite other family members and caregivers to have access to the dashboard.
Lively has a $49.95 one-time equipment fee, plus pay-as-you-go plans starting at $27.95.
Jitterbug Cell Phone
Not only will seniors be able to keep in touch with friends and family, the Jitterbug Cell Phone is also a mobile health and safety tool. The phone has a 5Star Urgent Response with access to registered nurses and board-certified doctors 24/7, with just a click of a button. Depending which device you purchase, your senior can receive daily check-in or weekly wellness calls, fall detection, MedCoach and more. There are no annual contracts, no cancellation fees and features 100 percent U.S. based customer service.
There are several phones to pick from, and you can choose which will be good for your loved one based on the seniors familiarity with technology.
Moneual Rydis H68 Pro Hybrid Robotic Vacuum Cleaner
As people age, chores can become more difficult, especially rigorous cleaning such as sweeping, vacuuming and mopping. Such chores can present injury and fall risk as well. With the power of technology, you can make it a little easier for you or your loved one. Get them a robot that cleans for them! The Moneual Rydis H68 Pro Hybrid Robotic Vacuum Cleaner not only vacuums and sweeps carpet and hardwood, but mops floors as well.
The MSRP value is $499.99; however, you can find it as low as $199.99 on Amazon.com
iPad or Reading Tablet
This one will be determined by the technology skill level of the senior who will be using the device and the price point they – or you – have. But there are many tablet options to choose from, from basic e-readers to complex computing machines. If you or your loved ones once read voraciously but now has a problem turning pages or reading the print, an e-reader will make it easier to continue reading. If the senior is more technology adept, he or she could use an iPad or other tablet to keep up with emails, play games and keep in contact with loved ones.
Amazon has many e-reader options to choose from at various price points, Apple's iPad is always a popular choice, and Microsoft has their Surface
Hewlett-Packard Printer with internet connection
All of HP's printer now come with an internet connection and a unique email address, which means you can set up emails to direct print through the printer. While a senior may not want to deal with a computer and email application, or even reading on a computer screen, it's much easier just to let the email print so they can read it on paper. Friends, family and even grandchildren can send emails, articles and pictures.
e-pill MedSmart Locked Automatic Medication Pill Dispenser
If your loved one needs a little assistance taking their medication, an automatic pill dispenser may come in handy. Many seniors take about 12 pills a day, and inability to take them independently leads to 40 percent of nursing home admissions. Luckily, a pill dispenser and reminder system can help ensure your loved one is able to take their medicine as the doctor prescribed.
While there are some cheaper options, if you need a heavy duty pill dispenser the e-pill MedSmart dispenser is an option, starting at $489.95 on Amazon. It can dispense pills up to six times a day while remaining fully locked. It also features an alarm, so seniors know when they need to take their medicine. The alarm will not stop until the medicine is removed.


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You probably have an excellent idea of how much money you make, perhaps down to the exact dollar in each paycheck. In your mind's eye, you may think of that number as trending upward each year you gain experience — with the exception of the times that you spent unemployed, attending college as a full-time student, or taking a family leave of absence.
But this imagined trajectory may or may not represent reality. The upward mobility may not be rising as quickly as you had hoped when you bought your house, committed to a car payment, signed on to send your kids to private school, or dreamed about your retirement. Or, you may be making plenty of moneybut your net worth is not increasing as rapidly as your income. (See also: Perform a Credit Card Rewards Annual Review)
Taking a look at your annual earnings gives you the unfiltered truth about where your career and compensation are headed. Although there are more factors in achieving happiness and building wealth than increasing take-home pay, considering your annual earnings over time is a worthwhile endeavor.
You may have a spreadsheet detailing your income, spending plan, and assets to measure their progression, stagnation, or decline. If not, you can access annual earnings online at the federal government's Social Security Administration (SSA) website. Rod Griffin, director of public education for Experian (a credit reporting company), recommends that you consider adding this habit to your financial routine at least once a year, just as you might check your credit report. Here's why:
Trends in Earnings Can Guide Decisions About Next Steps Professionally
This financial snapshot of your career may prompt you to reconsider direction or give you the impetus to make changes that you have been mulling over. For example, you may decide to pursue a position with another company; negotiate a better salary or hourly rate with your employer; drop a part-time job because its value isn't worth the extra cost of commuting, eating out, etc.; find higher-paying freelance clients; or switch careers.
Verify the Accuracy of Your Records
You'll want to check the accuracy of your earnings. A byproduct of verifying accuracy is making sure that no one is tampering with your information. Checking your Social Security info is similar to looking at your credit report each year to note anything unusual and make corrections as quickly as possible. Such habits can help prevent identity theft.
Earnings Information Is Needed for Financial Planning Purposes
Even if you are happy with your income trends, an earnings report is useful for financial planning. A financial advisor should want to get this information to help you develop a financial plan. At the same time, you can access estimated benefits in retirement, which may be a factor in determining how much you need to retire.
Note that your regular earnings may differ from your Social Security wages for various reasons, including tax-deferred contributions to employer-sponsored retirement accounts that lower your taxable wages for federal tax purposes. Mike Piper, CPA and author of "Social Security Made Simple" and the Oblivious Investor blog, explains that pre-tax 401(k) contributions reduce federal income taxes but not Social Security taxes. So, refer to your W-2 (specifically Box 3 — Social Security wages) and other tax statements when checking your earnings on the SSA website.
During your visit, you can also take care of tasks like these:
To check your earnings, you'll need to set up an online "my Social Security" account on the SSA website. There are just a few starting requirements. You must:
When you create the account, you'll need to answer some security questions that Sal Guariano, vice president of government services at Experian, describes as the authentication process. The credit reporting firm developed this process in collaboration with the SSA to make sure that your information is secure.
You'll be asked a series of questions to which only you should know the answers. Sal mentions that even if someone stole your wallet, the thief couldn't extract the answers based on your driver's license and plastic cards.
Note, however, if you have placed a fraud alert or a freeze on your credit report, then you will need to take some extra steps to create an online account. Lift these restrictions temporarily because the SSA works with the credit agency to verify information as part of its security precautions.
After you set up your account and log in, viewing your earnings is easy. You can also locate your estimated benefits at full retirement age as well as earlier and later retirement ages. Precisely what will happen in the future with your retirement benefits is not predictable. But seeing what has happened with your earnings in the past can be useful as you plot next steps.
Have you found that viewing your income and net worth over time is useful? What changes did you make to have a better future?
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


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Software Appliances were initially created for high performance network and security infrastructure with lower administration costs. Over time the Appliance model moved up the stack from email appliances to a diverse set of business applications. This trend has continued in parallel to the rise of SaaS and Cloud Computing. SaaS Appliances provide pre-configured, self-contained applications with on-premises deployment that can be automatically updated and upgraded. While the Cloud is the center of attention these days, SaaS Appliances have been quietly evolving up the stack while adapting the best of web-oriented architecture for clouds inside companies.
Whenever there are security or regulatory constraints that demand on-premises deployment, SaaS Appliances can deliver where the Cloud cannot. While several years from now these constraints may change, this is the reality for many enterprises and government agencies. Any SaaS vendor who does deliver both Cloud and SaaS Appliance deployment models from a single image of their software is simply reducing their total addressable market.
Compared to traditional on-premises software, SaaS Appliances provide rapid deployment that shortens technical pilots, fast upgrade cycles without degrading service level and a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Combined with subscription business models that let the enterprise right-size the deployment, the ability to deliver or turn on additional applications (e.g. upgrading a Microblogging Appliance to a full Social Software Appliance) provide the flexibility and fit for adoption concurrent with business value.
Traditional enterprise applications such as CRM or ERP will move to the Cloud, but not just because a customer chooses the Cloud over traditional deployment. The Cloud will come to them. For example, I can't wait for a customer to migrate apps and users to the Cloud so we can enable the integrated value proposition of Social Software working across organization and application silos.


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James Mirtle wrote the other day about how the first Pascal Dupuis goal in the crushing 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh last Thursday was the back breaker when it came to Korbinian Holzer's time with the Leafs this season. Holzer challenged Chris Kunitz on the boards and Kunitz came out cleanly with the puck to start the play that led to the goal. I remember thinking at the time, "Holzer struggles with his outlet pass, he struggles positionally, what are we doing here if Holzer can't even win a battle on the boards?"
Unfortunately for Holzer that was just one of many recent goals against he's had a hand in. That said, despite the demotion, I'm not going to write off Holzer as a Leaf asset. I think he could be what Mark Fraser is now if he learns from this experience, gets some confidence back in the AHL (presumably will still be down there for their playoff run), and gets his next crack in a more manageable situation.
I never bought that Carlyle's management of the blueline had anything to do with Nonis' activities on the trade market or whatever was rumoured. Carlyle wanted a certain identity on his blueline, a tough nosed group with each defencemen playing their "proper" side. He wanted the Leaf blueline to be scary to cross and the Leaf net to be a tough place to hang out around. To Holzer's credit I thought he did a particularly good job of clearing bodies from around his net, and landed a couple of good hits on forwards streaking down his wing, but struggled with much of the rest of his game. What we're learning is that Carlyle could really use a top-4-worthy right-handed defenceman with experience who can help him put together the group he envisions back there.
Overall, there has been much hate on Carlyle for his experimentation with Holzer (and before him, Kostka) on the top pairing to begin with, but you have to like that he's showing a willingness to adapt after a downturn in results. The team is in decent shape relative to expectations at 15-12-2, Kostka has been scratched two games in a row and Holzer is now with the Marlies. Might be time to shut up with the incessant Carlyle bitching.
Gardiner needs to play only three more games until he's not waiver exempt, meaning this roster decision is final for the rest of the season. I'd assume Carl Gunnarsson will be Dion's partner moving forward, granted the pairing did not get off to the best of starts on Saturday. Gardiner should add a missing dynamic with his ability to engage in the rush. More than anything, you have to be excited about the prospect of what Gardiner can bring to a suddenly slumping powerplay (0 goals in last 19 opportunities). Now that Gardiner has been freed, what would your D pairings look like?


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Epochal: Achron, Meta-Time Strategy
Things you can't do in an RTS generally include: attacking your opponent in the past, undoing the future actions of your units, building things in the future and sending the back to a previous point in a game. These are all things you can do in Achron. The developers, who unveiled their idea at the 2009 GDC Experimental Gameplay Sessions explain it thus: "Achron is the world's first meta-time strategy game, a real-time strategy game where players and units can jump to and play at different times simultaneously and independently." It's a game that takes the impossible notions of cross-time war that we see juggled so cleverly in time-travel science fiction, and turns them into a practical gaming model. This is seriously smart game design, and, potentially, it provides a model for "real-time" time travel in all kinds of games, not just strategy games. An explanatory trailer and press release await you below, and believe me, you are going to want to watch this.
Yeah. Yeah. There's some more videos on the developer's site. This one is particularly interesting:
"When my opponent is."
Thanks to Quinns for the link on this one.
Press Release
March 26, 2009 - Hazardous Software� unveiled Achron, the world's first meta-time strategy game, at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California. The next revolution in time travel gameplay was demonstrated at the Experimental Gameplay Session.
Designed to reinvent the real-time strategy genre by allowing all players to travel through time, Achron is a futuristic science fiction game. Players and units have the ability to jump to and play at different times simultaneously and independently. Time travel is free and unlimited but it costs energy to change the time line. Players will be challenged to invent new strategies in a world where it is possible for them and their opponents to undo mistakes, change a strategy after committing to it, and alter the outcome of past battles.
Time travel transforms the strategy game landscape, stated Christopher Hazard, president and cofounder of Hazardous Software. It opens up new dimensions of strategies and gameplay. For example, imagine being able to see when and where your opponents are going to attack before they do.
Achron features both a captivating single player campaign and an online multiplayer mode. In addition to being able to build, expand, and attack as in typical RTS games, new mechanisms such as command hierarchy and smart-idling ease the management of a complex time travel environment. An intuitive user interface depicts events in the past and future allowing the player to navigate the time line.
Achron signifies the creation of a brand new sub-genre of video games that utilize gimmick-free time travel as one of the core gameplay mechanisms, said Mike Resnick, lead developer and cofounder of Hazardous Software. �The popular type of time travel abundant in science fiction is now available to the gaming community.
Further information about the game will be released in the upcoming months. To learn more about Achron, please visit the official web site at www.achrongame.com.
About Hazardous Software
Hazardous Software was incorporated in June 2007 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina near Research Triangle Park. The company was founded to address the gamer�s desire for more innovative games in the marketplace. Hazardous Software believes games should challenge players minds while being entertaining and engaging.
Copyright 2008-2009 Hazardous Software Inc.


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Welcome to the SEIU Benefits Funds Member Portal
We are excited to offer new self-service options for updating and managing your benefits options with us.
This feature is now available for the following Funds:
Over the coming months we will be adding this capability to each of the Funds within our portfolio. Please keep checking back for availability for your Fund membership.


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Fresh from a recent showing at CEATEC Japan 2007, Sony has announced that its 11-inch Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display will be available from December 1 in Japan, creating a whole new TV category that will offer extreme color quality, million-to-one contrast ratios, ultra-quick refresh rates, unparalleled viewing angles and a screen thickness of only 3mm at its thinnest point.
The Sony XEL-1 will be the world's first commercially available OLED screen when it hits the Japanese market at the end of the year – but it will be the beginning of an exciting new era of TV technology that will eventually offer low-cost, low-consumption TVs with exceptional viewing characteristics and screens so thin they can be rolled up for storage.
OLED technology has its origins in a number of 1950s and 60s research projects which showed that certain organic materials would produce electroluminescence when exposed to AC power. Different colored organic luminescents are arranged in a matrix to form an OLED screen.
Because these organic chemicals are themselves luminescent, an OLED screen doesn't need a backlight like an LCD screen does – so it uses far less power, and can show a "true" black colour.
The nanometer-thick luminescent layer can be easily and cheaply produced – an OLED screen can literally be printed onto a substrate material using an inkjet or screen printing technique – which opens up the ability to create flexible screens, or even screens embedded in clothing.
The real drawcard of OLED is the exquisite picture quality it enables. Sony's OLED range will be capable of million-to-one contrast ratios, with extremely deep blacks and extremely high peak brightness. Even the darkest movie scenes will come alive with the rich range of subtle tones available, and a wide range of bright color is possible.
Viewing angle is excellent, unlike LCD – you can see perfect color on an OLED from nearly side-on, and the refresh rate is up to 12 times quicker than on an LCD, meaning that there's virtually no blur on fast sports action shots. Sony's OLED demo fleet has been dropping jaws at electronics conventions around the world since around January and Gizmag recently encountered the range at CEATEC Japan 2007.
So … cheap, fast, outstanding picture, extraordinarily thin … Well, there's always a drawback – and with organic LEDs it's the relatively quick degradation times of the organic chemicals they contain. The blue phosphorescents in particular tend to have an active service life of around 5,000 hours – less than a tenth of the life of a typical LCD – and any intrusion of water into the screen area can completely destroy the display, which limits the use of OLEDs in clothing.
Still, if your aim is to have the absolute best picture, and a screen so thin that it almost looks like it's hovering in mid-air, it's great to know that these Sony OLEDs will be available in Japan from December this year, and the company has clearly stated plans to bring the technology to the rest of the world alongside their Bravia LCD range as an entirely new TV category.
At 200,000 Yen (Around US$1,700), XEL-1 buyers will certainly be paying an early-adopter tax for the small but exquisite screens, but it's clearly the beginning of something exciting – Sony already has a demo-version 27-inch model traveling around to conventions with them. We can't wait to see the big-screen OLEDs come rolling out, and see if Sony has any tricks up its sleeve to prolong the active life of these magnificent screens.
Incidentally, the possibilities opened up by OLED technology go far beyond TV screens – we wrote last year about emerging research that proposed that OLED arrays could be used to replace light bulbs throughout a house – making all sorts of curved and straight surfaces potential light sources around a home.


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We know, we know: Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait — yada yada. But, in a world that moves at a million miles an hour, can you blame us for wishing the results of our skin care would follow suit? That's why we love retinol — whenever we use products infused with the vitamin A-derived ingredient, we see a serious difference in our skin after just a few applications. We're talkin' noticeable smoothness and clarity here, you guys.
But, with great power comes great responsibility: Retinol (closely related to prescription Retin-A) is a supercharged solution if there ever was one, and, as such, those with sensitive skin might prefer to use a product that promises similar results.
That being said, we rounded up products from all across the retinol spectrum in the form of creams, cleansers, concentrates, and more. But, there's one thing they all have in common: seriously significant results.


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Boston Mind Control Monarch, Project
Boston Bomber Believed He Was a Victim of Mind Control
Posted on December 17, 2013 by Paul Joseph Watson
Image: Tamerlan Tsarnaev (YouTube).
Suspected Boston marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev believed that he was a victim of mind control, according to the results of a five month investigation published Sunday by the Boston Globe.
Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with police four days after allegedly carrying out the bombings with his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was thought to have "some form of schizophrenia," according to family friends, while his mother said Tsarnaev "felt like there were two people living inside of him."
"He believed in majestic mind control, which is a way of breaking down a person and creating an alternative personality with which they must coexist," Donald Larking, a 67-year-old who attended a Boston mosque with Tamerlan, told the Globe. "You can give a signal, a phrase or a gesture, and bring out the alternate personality and make them do things. Tamerlan thought someone might have done that to him."
The link between allegations of mind control and violent acts such as political assassinations or terror attacks has been a running theme in numerous different high profile cases.
Aurora theater gunman James Holmes said he was "programmed" to carry out the massacre by an "evil" therapist, according to an alleged inmate of the 'Batman' shooter. Steven Unruh claims that Holmes told him he "felt like he was in a video game" during the shooting and that he had been brainwashed with the aid of neuro-linguistic programming.
The parallels between James Holmes and another alleged victim of mind control – RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan – are astounding.
As the London Independent reported in 2005, evidence strongly indicates that Sirhan was a Manchurian candidate, a victim of mind control who was set up to be the fall guy for the murder. Sirhan was described by eyewitnesses as being in a trance-like state as he pulled the trigger.
"There was no way Sirhan Sirhan killed Kennedy," said (Sirhan's lawyer Larry) Teeter….He was the fall guy. His job was to get busted while the trigger man walked out. He wasn't consciously involved in any plot. He was a patsy. He was unconscious and unaware of what was happening – he was the true Manchurian Candidate."
The CIA's use of mind control to create killers is a matter of historical record. MK-ULTRA was the code name for a covert, illegal CIA human research program, run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence that came to light in 1975 through investigations by the Church Committee, and the Rockefeller Commission. 14-year CIA veteran Victor Marchetti insists that the program is ongoing and has not been abandoned.
According to his lawyers, Sirhan Sirhan "was an involuntary participant in the crimes being committed because he was subjected to sophisticated hypno programming and memory implantation techniques which rendered him unable to consciously control his thoughts and actions at the time the crimes were being committed," and served only as a diversion for the real assassin.
Jared Lee Loughner, the gunman who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six other people, was also obsessed with mind control.
Were the Tsarnaev brothers set up or brainwashed into carrying out the Boston marathon bombing? It's a claim that would be virtually impossible to prove, but it would explain a number of extraordinary contradictions pertaining to the case, including why the brothers apparently shouted "we didn't do it" during their shootout with police.
The aunt of Tamerlan Tsarnaev claims that the footage which emerged of police arresting a naked uninjured man was her nephew, contradicting the official narrative that Tsarnaev was critically injured in a shootout and suggesting he may have been killed while in custody.
According to Tamerlan's mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the FBI "were controlling his every step." It was subsequently confirmed that both the FBI and the CIA added the brothers to at least two terrorist watch lists in late 2011.
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.
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Hydro Jetting
15% OFF Senior & Military Discount
$100 off Water Treatment System
Hydro Jetting
Drain clogs are a problem for every homeowner at some point. Materials get stuck in toilet and sink drains or build up over time and result in slow drains or overflows. If your plunger won't move the clog, you need something a little more powerful. Plumbers often use a plumbing auger or a hydro jet when clogs just won't budge. Each is designed for different types of clogs.
Plumbing Snakes (Traditional Clog Clearing)
Plumbing snakes, also called plumbing augers, consist of a long metal tube at one end with a cable inside that has a corkscrew auger or blades attached, and a hand crank at the other. The cable end of the snake is placed in the drain and you turn the crank end to extend the cable down the drain. When it reaches the clog you can feel the resistance and must turn the crank to push through the clog and then pull it out of the drain. Plumbing snakes may have a straight tube or a J-shaped bend. The straight tube style is intended for sink drains, while the J-shaped snakes are intended for toilets.
What is Hydro Jetting?
Hydro jetting consists of a high-pressure hose with a specialized nozzle connected to a machine that pressurizes the water, producing a powerful stream that clears the drain. Hydro jetting is usually done through a cleanout, which is an opening that allows plumbers to clean out clogs. The water is forced down the drain, where it pushes grease, mineral build-up, hair and other debris through the drain. With a powerful enough hydro jet, tree roots can also be broken up. However, before using a hydro jet, a plumber typically inspects the drain with a small camera to determine if the pipe is damaged.
Pros and Cons
A plumbing snake is ideal for minor clogs or when an item such as a toy gets stuck in the drain. If your plunger doesn't remove the material, a snake is usually enough to remove most clogs. Snakes can also alert you to more serious problems. For example, if it can't break through the material, you may have a tree root in the line, and not a buildup of hair. A hydro jet, on the other hand, doesn't just break up clogs, it clears your plumbing lines of material that builds up on pipe walls, such as minerals and grease. Snaking doesn't thoroughly clean your pipes, so it is a temporary solution to many types of clogs. While hydro jetting can clear almost any clog, it's not an option for the do-it-yourselfer. If your pipes are damaged or weak, a hydro jet may cause more damage, so it is a process that should be done by a professional plumber to avoid damaging your plumbing.
Advantages of Hydro Jetting Sewer Lines
- Cleaning, not just unclogging. Accumulations of grease, soap and other components of sludge inside the pipe are often the precursor to recurrent sewer clogs. Unfortunately, a rotating snake does little other than punch a hole in the clog to restore flow. It doesn't address the ongoing issues of sludge that are likely to result in a recurrence very soon. Hydro-jetting cleans the internal pipe for a more long-lasting resolution.
- More economical. A single pipe cleaning with a hydro-jetting system can delay the need for another service call to clear blockages or tree roots up to four times longer than a typical procedure with a mechanical snake. This reduces sewer service expenses over the long term.
The Best Choice
The best way to clear your clogged plumbing lines depends on the cause of the problem. Elite Rooter Hydro Jetting services is a solution that's best when clogs can't be removed using a plumbing snake, such as heavy sludge and grease that has built up over time, or tree roots. Plumbing snakes are ideal for slow-draining lines or to remove occasional blockages, such as too much toilet paper or food stuck in your sink drain.
Elite Rooter is the #1 choice for Hydro Jetting Services
Free Estimates. No Trip Fee. Elite Rooter Guarantee.
Elite Rooter Philosophy
Our Promise
- Always free estimates.
- Never an overtime charge or trip charge.
- We charge by the job, not by the hour, so you know the price BEFORE we start.
- All repair warrantied and guaranteed.
Elite Rooter Mission
The goal of Elite Rooter in all of our locations, is to provide the most professional plumbing service possible. As a result of our quality service, and professional plumbers, we have been building customer loyalty & trust since day one.


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In 1906, Munktells Mekaniska Verkstads AB made the first piece of construction machinery – a steam-powered road roller. Also Zettelmeyer began as early as 1910 to manufacture steam rollers.
In 1969 Ingersoll Rand starts compaction manufacturing in West Colwell NJ USA. The acquisition of Ingersoll Rand's road development equipment division was finalized in 2007.
The first Volvo branded compactors were launched in the beginning of 2008.
In 2013 the line of soil compactors has been restructured to simplify model designations as Volvo expands the product range to include Tier4i / Stage 3b compactors, and to align with the product designation policy. The new nomenclature has been simplified to create a single designation for each model family. Suffix's have also been removed from product names, and features such as "D", "DX" and "F" have become selectable options instead of standalone model designations.
Find information on discontinued product models. Search by model, series, manufacturer or category.